Saturday, September 21, 2013

I only worked out 3 out of the 5 days this week. Was feeling a little depressed because the weather here in Southern California just changed. I can see how Seattle has such a high suicide rate.. gloomy weather makes people depressed. The weather has cooled down significantly in the past 3 days as well. I have been consistent with my diet though. Brown rice and chicken and I think it's finally paying off. Jeans feel looser and I lost about 5 lbs this week. Now I just need to be more consistent with my work outs.

I think the best thing so far about the diet is that I don't feel bloated. Not too hungry, not too full. Eating the correct portion is so important - which is something I came to appreciate very late in my life. About 1.5x the size of your fist.

I can't believe this is already the end of the 3rd week. Technically the end of the 4th week that i've been eating healthy. I need to build more muscle before I get into the 2nd phase of the program. This last week should be a no brainer. Fighting!

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

So the turbulence continues. The original week 1 was complicated by soreness. This past week I hurt the right side of my lower back. It felt like a pinched nerve - but it must have been just a pulled muscle because it feels better after 5 days. I hurt it on Tuesday of last week while doing some squats. How I hurt it is unknown. I only recall finishing my work out and laying on the couch watching TV. My muscles must have tensed up and my bad posture while lying on the couch probably did it.

I could barely walk, or get out of bed. If I dropped anything on the floor - that would have been the death of me. My roommate gave me some muscle relaxers and IB profine. I put an ice pack on my back every 20 minutes on/off to minimize the inflamation. After the 4th day it was getting better, and today I feel completely healed. I started right back on my work outs and the 5 days of extra rest must have helped me re-build a lot of muscle. The workout today would have killed me 3 weeks ago; but it was actually a breeze. I didn't have to cheat during any of the exercises and the rest times got shorter.

I do worry about missing those 3 days of workout from last week, but life goes on. I will just have to extend the program a bit from my original goal of 12 weeks.

Results so far. In terms of how i feel - i feel stronger and durable. I gained about 5 lbs. Probably muscle since I am generally working out my quads A LOT and my jeans still fit; which means my waist line didn't get any wider.

I'm just hoping I don't injure myself again - or something else comes up where I have to halt my work outs. Week 2 is done. 10 more weeks left. Fighting!

Sunday, September 08, 2013

I had an incorrect view of this. Before I used to think that working out parts that I wanted to shrink meant that I shouldn't work them out. I wanted skinnier quads because I have soccer legs and cannot fit into skinny jeans if my life depended on it. But that is false. Working out the 4 major muscle groups is important because they will help you burn the highest amount of calories per day even if you aren't working out. Particularly legs. You pretty much use them everyday - and I believe other than your glutes - it's the largest single muscle group in the body. Having a strong muscular leg means you will burn that much more calories per day. I have been dismissing my quads too long - when I would have been training them the most.

This story all comes into a circle now. That's because I remember back in High School when I was training hard - I would do the stairmaster for 15 minutes every day. That thing really works your legs compared to regular treadmills. Looking back at that fact now, is probably the reason I was so successful then.

The commercials that try to sell ab machines.. completely BS. Doing 15 minutes of abs everyday will not help you loose weight. Abs are such a small piece of muscles in your body that it will not help. Curse at those infomercials next time you see it.

Additionally - I forgot to mention that my weekly shopping expense has significantly declined. Who knew eating healthier was also cheaper?! haha. If you go to Diet Tip #8, it will show a list of what i used to buy. Now my list is this:

Saturday, September 07, 2013

The original week 1 was a failure. I worked out on Monday and probably overexerted myself. The following day I was completely sore. My quads were gone and i could barely walk. I decided to take that week off. I did however eat everything I cooked on Sunday. Brown rice and chicken. 2x a day and that was all I ate.

For the past 5 days, i followed all of my training routines and they were very hard. I had to cheat on some parts because my muscles were on FIRE! I realized how out of shape my body really was and it was comforting to know that I finally decided to do this - and at the same time discouraging of how much I let go in the past year. When I wasn't working - i would go to the gym and work out for 2 hours and play soccer 2x a week. I felt healthy and was at a good 175lbs. This roller coaster ride has to stop. If... no.. WHEN i finally get the body i want; I will NEVER EVER EVER drop the ball again. It's too damn difficult to get back on the wagon.

Overall Week 1 was a success. I completed my meal plan - in addition to adding 1 egg during each meal for the extra protein. Technically this was the second week that i've ate just chicken and brown rice - and it's difficult. So many other things I want to eat... bacon.. doghnuts.. in and out.. But it's done. 11 more weeks to go.

I have not lost any lbs. No significant difference as far as I can tell - but it could be to the fact that I am probably gaining a lot more muscle (since Week 1 is for muscle building). I predict shedding the scale will come into play around week 5.

Tuesday, September 03, 2013

Story is about a young doctor who is a savant. He is a genius and has an amazing memory, however he is socially impaired. He lacks communication skills and acts like a small child. The drama portrays his difficulties as a resident in the top children's hospital in Korea.

Overall the acting is a B. The story is a B. I only started watching this because it's the #1 drama in Korea in an article i read.

Story is about a woman that can see ghosts and is terrified. She eventually meets a handsome businessman that is able to repel the ghosts. This is an ongoing series and is one of the top drama's in Korea at the moment. They did a very good job with the ghost/zombie makeup and the storyline is good.

If you like shows like Hells Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, Master Chef.. or anything with Gordon Ramsey - you will probably enjoy Pasta. The story is about a young woman who wants to be a pasta chef in an Italian restaurant in Korea. Her dream is shattered when a loud mouth chef comes from Italy to her kitchen.

The storyline is mostly predictable and slow at times. I fast forwarded many times, but the overall acting and story telling was well done.